Any suggestions on how to get out of the HAFA loop nightmare?

I have been trying for months to get BofA to initiate a co-operative short sale for my buyer, but unfortunately we keep getting stuck in the HAFA nightmare. Originally after filing 3rd party auths way back in February I received a call from an escalation team member at BofA who recommended Co-op program and who told me to put it into HAFA and they would initiate the file in Equator. Well this was to be handled by AMS and after weeks of not getting any sense out of them, I called BofA again and they told me that it should be with UTLS for HAFA. I explained that the homeowner doesnt qualify on grounds of income and so they asked the h/o to call in and decline it. He did that. They then told me to initiate myself in Equator, which I did without an offer, messaging them that h/o wanted to be considered for CoOp program. I did this, and got stuck in the HAFA loop again with an auto response to get homeowner to call in. He called in again, the short sale file was declined on BofA advice and I was told to re-initiate without an offer and all would be well. Re-initiated and BANG back in the "Instruct Homeowner to call Bank of America because they may qualify for HAFA... Arrggggggggh!

When are BofA going to change Equator so we can initiate a Co-op Short Sale? Funny thing is - now I have two offers that came in today - so I will have to go traditional route anyway...... Unco-operative short sale route should I say.... Anyone had any luck with a co-op short sale in Equator or is that not possible?

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Gary had a very good response, and here is a compliment to his advice.

The EQ system is programmed to scan loans for eligibility based on the basic requirements.. Foreclosure sale date, property units, balance requirements, when the mortgage was funded, etc, HOWEVER, Equator will NOT detect other issues that will cause your borrower to lose eligibility for HAFA, meaning things like bankruptcys, DTI ratios, will not be taken into consideration, nor will previous denials for HAFA change anything. You MUST advise of this.

This leaves you, the agent, or H/O to stop the "vicious cycle" of borrower outreach, by calling in WITH Your H/O on the line, and advise the bank that although Equator SHOWS eligibility, the H/O has already been through the process, and you know they cannot qualify. You may feel the rep your speaking to is this complete "idiot" because he is instructing you to have the borrower call again, but he is limited to the huge "Y" for eligibility on the Equator file, and unless the borrower specifically states they already have gone through the process only to be told they could not qualify, the reps MUST take this step ethically, as the banks are REGULATED by the Fed's to make sure they are promoting the Obama plan whenever it applies.

Also, keep in mind alot of the time judgement calls are made by the reps and supervisors, as qualifications and guidelines DO change for these programs (guidelines were alleviated in February to allow more H/O's to qualify) so just because you state that the borrower wasnt eligible because of being told in January the loan is NOT eligible, who is to say they wont qualify now? Now if your HAFA file is declined on June 1st because of DTI requirments, and you call June 2nd in Borrower Outreach on the new file, it is possible to look at other options w/o the H/O calling simply because it is common sense that the H/O is not going to qualify a day later, however there would need to be some VERY clear and understandable notes from the HAFA team themselves as far as the denial from HAFA that would prove the borrower was NOT qualified. You would more than likely need to speak to a supervisor to make that exception though, as the frontline reps are not allowed to make that call themselves.

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